October 14, 2012

Chocolate wasted for 12 hours in Belgium

Yesterday, we decided to go on a day trip to Brussels, Belgium for some chocolate and fries (is this real life?). We took Megabus that costed 10 pounds for a return ticket. Even though the bus ride was a dreaded 4 hours, it really wasn't too bad! We left on October 13th at 11am and arrived in Belgium at 2pm. We were greeted with rain so the first thing we did was obviously find a chocolate store. Just like how it isn't hard to find a bakery in Paris, the same thing applies for chocolate stores in Brussels.
We walked into an indoor mall strip, Galeries Royales St. Hubert, to shelter from the rain and then we also ventured off to see the 'famous' Manneken Pis.

After 'chocolate tasting' for a while, we went to eat some fries because it just smelled heavenly. (And apparently fries originated from Belgium? So why not!). We went to Belgian Frit'N Toast and even though their fries look super normal like you can get them in Canada... No. They were SO noms. They had about 10 difference choices of dipping sauce, and we all had our own. After eating half of the funnel, I got bored of it but the sauce did justice and helped me finish the rest.

We walked to the Grand Place to try to see Brussel's famous flower carpet, but little did we know, it wasn't something that was there year-round haha. So I guess, like many other parts of my other trips, I'll have to resort to Google Images (and a postcard that I bought hehe). It was still really pretty though, despite the rain!

In the Grand Place, the four corners of the square are little exits that lead to different little cobblestoned streets. We wandered around for a while trying to find the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate, but it was closed!!! Being super sad, we stumbled into La Belgique Gourmande and bought loads of chocolate. I spent 54€ on chocolate.. Like are you kidding me? LOL but to be fair, it was pretty delicious chocolate slash I'm pretty sure I tasted about 50€ worth of chocolate that day from that store :P

We were on a hunt for a good Belgium waffle for the entire day, and we finally decided to eat at The Waffle Factory. I decided to go all out, and had Belgium chocolate sauce and ice cream. Uhm... NUMS?!?!? It was delicious. Best dinner ever!

With our bus departing Brussels at 2AM, we had to kill some time by going to watch a movie. We decided to watch Taken 2, and the theatre was so gorgeous. It reminded me of a performing theatre on a cruise ship! Also, the seats were like home theatre seats. SO comfy. The movie itself wasn't that great, but I still liked it (bias? Maybe a little..). When the movie was over, we took advantage of the empty theatre and pranced around the stage. We didn't notice that the employees that were working the theatre equipment were watching, but...YOLO (haha jk I didn't really just use that phrase).

Making our way back to the bus station was a mission and a half. After a couple creepy and sketchy encounters, we made it. The bus ride back to Paris was not that bad, if it wasn't SO cold!! I was literally shaking the entire 4 hours that my bones were aching by the time I got off the bus. I was definitely not dressed for the weather, which is my fault, but other than that... I am very happy I got home safe and made it home with a sweet load of chocolate (pun intended).

& everyone... Be excited to see what you're going to get from me when I am back in December!! Hehe